Great, but not very reliable

[leorimkus]

I own two of these from 2014 or 2015, both second hand. Both are dead now. And I'm bidding again on one - as it's dirty cheap now.

The good. 16 mpix is more than enough (I had 24 mpix full frame berofe). Camera is perfectly ballanced for street photo. S-AF focus is very fast and reliable, but C-AF not so good. It is heavily packed with features. And with f/1.7 primes it is very compact an fun to use. People are often complaining about the focus speed of Lumix 20mm f/1.7 - guys, put it on GX7. Very fast, very small - perfect everyday lens. FHD video is awesome - wish it had a mic input though.

Now the bad - although I don't use them heavily (can't check now, but the shutter count is somewhere in the range of 20000-30000 on both - but I carry at least one everywhere), both rear dials failed, both SD slots failed. Real dial is quite easy and cheap to replace, but for SD slot you have to disassemble almost everything - and I didn't find a replacement part. One has failing front dial around the shutter button. LCD frame cracked on both on bottom left. One has failed motherboard - OK, I fried it myself trying an old third party flashgun on it. But even after that it was still working with reduced functionality. At some point I was trying to make one fully functioning out of two - but when SD slots started to fail on both, I gave up. To be fair - I take out the card very often to download images with the card reader. Also GX7 is prone to dust under AA filter. I had one and I see GX7 on sale with a "non-removable dust" quite often. Actually the dust on my camera fell of by itself after some time.

Would give 4.5 stars usability, 3 stars reliability. So lets say 4 on average.

 

[alcelc]

Bought new in gray market in 2015, been my main camera until last year (replaced by G85), had travelled with me through quite many countries (around 30~40K just from those trips), plus over tenth thousands of shots from other daily / local events, it is still doing fine.

Stupid me, recently I wished to remove a label on the back of the built in flash. Thought it was a metal case so a cutter was used. Dear, it was actually plastic such that a piece of it had been cut. It is the only damage after 5 years of service.

To me, GX7 is very well built.

 

[rashid7]

agreed, GX7 = good old piece of gear! (my step son has mine)

 

[jeffharris]

GX7 is a classic. Bought mine new right after launch in 2013. Still have it, but rarely use it.



The down button on the rear pad failed, so it only goes up. Other than that, it’s been rock solid.

Still hate the EVF.

Why not check out a used GX8? It’s a MUCH better camera on every level. Image quality, feature set and handling. The EVF is fantastic compared to the GX7’s meager peep-hole.

 

[leorimkus]

GX7 is a classic. Bought mine new right after launch in 2013. Still have it, but rarely use it.

The down button on the rear pad failed, so it only goes up. Other than that, it’s been rock solid.

Still hate the EVF.

Why not check out a used GX8? It’s a MUCH better camera on every level. Image quality, feature set and handling. The EVF is fantastic compared to the GX7’s meager peep-hole.

I have absolutely no problems with the EVF.
GX8 is bigger. That's a big deal for me. And it's still 3x more expensive. I can replace two more GX7s instead - plus I have spare parts for DIY

 

[Adam-T]

I hammered mine and the only thing I got was the fatal dust in the sensor stack needing a new sensor (thanfully under warranty) this has killed too many GX7s, GM1s and GM5s , thankfully they fixed the poor sealing of the stack with the next gen sensor . Pan ought to have done a recall but they didn`t ............ the biggest issue for me was shutter shock, it was horrendous with the 14-140-II , Worse than the GX8 and almost as bad as the GX1 - the prob is that unlike the GX8, the GX7 drops to 10-bit mode in E-Shutter and has a very slow scan meaning poor DR and bendy moving images ..

amazing thing is that I actually liked the camera despite all that - it has better ergonomics and a far better grip than the GX80/90 and the EVF maybe poor but it was better than nothing .. The GX8 is superb but its an E-Shutter only camera with a few but most useful lenses , as I said thankfully there`s no loss in image quality and the scan speed is batter but its a bigger camera ........

the GX80 has no shock issues and a better sensor than the GX7, IBIS is better too but basically no grip to speak of so button crunchy when picking up or using with longer lenses, for some silly reason it doesn`t have the D-Pad disable option like the GX8 which would fix that

 

[jeffharris]

I hammered mine and the only thing I got was the fatal dust in the sensor stack needing a new sensor (thanfully under warranty) this has killed too many GX7s, GM1s and GM5s , thankfully they fixed the poor sealing of the stack with the next gen sensor . Pan ought to have done a recall but they didn`t ............ the biggest issue for me was shutter shock, it was horrendous with the 14-140-II , Worse than the GX8 and almost as bad as the GX1 -

Oh, yeah. SS with the GX7 and 14-140mm f3.5-5.6 was rough.

the prob is that unlike the GX8, the GX7 drops to 10-bit mode in E-Shutter and has a very slow scan meaning poor DR and bendy moving images ..

Nope. The GX7 produces 12-bit images with the electronic shutter. One of it's selling points. Thee-shutter scan speed is definitely slow, though.

amazing thing is that I actually liked the camera despite all that - it has better ergonomics and a far better grip than the GX80/90 and the EVF maybe poor but it was better than nothing ..

The GX8 is superb but its an E-Shutter only camera

Huh? The mechanical shutter works well with all but the lighter built lenses, especially the 14-140mm f3.5-5.6, again.

with a few but most useful lenses , as I said thankfully there`s no loss in image quality and the scan speed is batter but its a bigger camera ........

the GX80 has no shock issues and a better sensor than the GX7, IBIS is better too but basically no grip to speak of so button crunchy when picking up or using with longer lenses, for some silly reason it doesn`t have the D-Pad disable option like the GX8 which would fix that

 

[richj20]

I own two of these from 2014 or 2015, both second hand. Both are dead now. And I'm bidding again on one - as it's dirty cheap now.

Hello "Zoom,"

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences with your GX7s. However, since they were second-hand, you can not know how they were treated by the previous owners.

I've had one for five years and regard it as a superb camera. I added a Fotodiox thumb rest to make it easier to carry the camera in hand, since I didn't want to use a strap.



I use a small shoulder bag which doesn't call attention to itself as having a camera inside.



I agree about the 20mm lens. That and the 12-32mm make a nice pair.

For a while I used my 100-400mm lens with this camera. The camera size is not a problem if I balance the lens in my left palm. The camera is used just to steady the lens and click.



I've never understood the complaints about the EVF. I didn't have a problem focusing and using 10x magnification above.

I hope your next experience with a GX7 will be more reliable!

- Richard

--
http://www.rsjphoto.net

 

[Adam-T]

Nope. The GX7 produces 12-bit images with the electronic shutter. One of it's selling points. Thee-shutter scan speed is definitely slow, though.

I stand corrected (Never compared it to anything else though) as I had the 14-140-II mounted permanently, it was always in E-Shutter mode .....

The GX8 is superb but its an E-Shutter only camera

Huh? The mechanical shutter works well with all but the lighter built lenses, especially the 14-140mm f3.5-5.6, again.

I had it with the 12-60 F3.5-5.6 also - funny thing is that my totally sterling copy of the little 14-42-II withstands shutter shock from all except the dreaded GX1

 

[larsbc]

I own two of these from 2014 or 2015, both second hand. Both are dead now. And I'm bidding again on one - as it's dirty cheap now.

The good. 16 mpix is more than enough (I had 24 mpix full frame berofe). Camera is perfectly ballanced for street photo. S-AF focus is very fast and reliable, but C-AF not so good. It is heavily packed with features. And with f/1.7 primes it is very compact an fun to use. People are often complaining about the focus speed of Lumix 20mm f/1.7 - guys, put it on GX7. Very fast, very small - perfect everyday lens. FHD video is awesome - wish it had a mic input though.

Now the bad - although I don't use them heavily (can't check now, but the shutter count is somewhere in the range of 20000-30000 on both - but I carry at least one everywhere), both rear dials failed, both SD slots failed. Real dial is quite easy and cheap to replace, but for SD slot you have to disassemble almost everything - and I didn't find a replacement part. One has failing front dial around the shutter button. LCD frame cracked on both on bottom left. One has failed motherboard - OK, I fried it myself trying an old third party flashgun on it. But even after that it was still working with reduced functionality. At some point I was trying to make one fully functioning out of two - but when SD slots started to fail on both, I gave up. To be fair - I take out the card very often to download images with the card reader. Also GX7 is prone to dust under AA filter. I had one and I see GX7 on sale with a "non-removable dust" quite often. Actually the dust on my camera fell of by itself after some time.

Mine is from 2013 and all the dials continue to work just fine. I rarely ever use the PUSH operation of the rear dial so I wonder if that has something to do with mine's long term durability?

Also, shockingly, I discovered that I only have about 6,000 shutter actuations on mine. But then I thought about it and did a little test. It turns out that the shutter count only counts mechanical shutter actuations and I primarily use e-shutter so I've definitely taken far more pictures than 6,000 over the course of 7 years.

My camera's only failure was some "dust" getting lodged between the sensor and filter stack. Fortunately, a local camera repair shop disassembled and cleaned the stack for a surprisingly reasonable price (CAD250-ish).

Also, FWIW, I always take the card out to xfer images to my computer.

 

[eques]

I own two of these from 2014 or 2015, both second hand. Both are dead now. And I'm bidding again on one - as it's dirty cheap now.

The good. 16 mpix is more than enough (I had 24 mpix full frame berofe). Camera is perfectly ballanced for street photo. S-AF focus is very fast and reliable, but C-AF not so good. It is heavily packed with features. And with f/1.7 primes it is very compact an fun to use. People are often complaining about the focus speed of Lumix 20mm f/1.7 - guys, put it on GX7. Very fast, very small - perfect everyday lens.

A beautiful combo with great results, but AF is not very fast.

FHD video is awesome - wish it had a mic input though.

Now the bad - although I don't use them heavily (can't check now, but the shutter count is somewhere in the range of 20000-30000 on both - but I carry at least one everywhere), both rear dials failed, both SD slots failed.

As told before similar experience with 3 rear dials in 2 bodies.

None of the other problems yet, though I take out the SD cards quite often.

Worse, exposure compensation dial on the GX8 starts to fail as well.

OTOH my Ricoh GR is unusable because of the sticky aperture issue after 35k shutter actuations, so reliability is not only a Panasonic problem. But they could try to do something about their dials!

Peter

 

[eques]

GX7 is a classic. Bought mine new right after launch in 2013. Still have it, but rarely use it.

The down button on the rear pad failed, so it only goes up. Other than that, it’s been rock solid.

Still hate the EVF.

Why not check out a used GX8? It’s a MUCH better camera on every level. Image quality, feature set and handling. The EVF is fantastic compared to the GX7’s meager peep-hole.

Correct, fully agree. But mine has a problem with the exposure compensation dial.

Peter

 

[dinoSnake]

GX7 is a classic. Bought mine new right after launch in 2013. Still have it, but rarely use it.

The down button on the rear pad failed, so it only goes up. Other than that, it’s been rock solid.

Still hate the EVF.

Why not check out a used GX8? It’s a MUCH better camera on every level. Image quality, feature set and handling. The EVF is fantastic compared to the GX7’s meager peep-hole.

Correct, fully agree. But mine has a problem with the exposure compensation dial.

The rear dial is the common failure point due to the dual function of turn plus push. When mine failed parts for a DIY repair were hard to come by but I managed to find one; now, the rear dial is easily orderable via eBay and it only takes 13 screws to put it in. If one is reasonably competent with a jeweler's screwdriver (just "reasonably", not much more is needed), the repair is totally DIY capable.

 

[brentbrent]

Mine is from 2013 and all the dials continue to work just fine. I rarely ever use the PUSH operation of the rear dial ...

Same here, on both points.

Also, shockingly, I discovered that I only have about 6,000 shutter actuations on mine. But then I thought about it and did a little test. It turns out that the shutter count only counts mechanical shutter actuations and I primarily use e-shutter so I've definitely taken far more pictures than 6,000 over the course of 7 years.

Although I'm not using my GX7 so much lately, the last time I checked in Lightroom I think it had more images than any of my other cameras.

My camera's only failure was some "dust" getting lodged between the sensor and filter stack.

I don't think I've had that problem, but I may not examine my images closely enough to detect it if it's there. :-D

Also, FWIW, I always take the card out to xfer images to my computer.

Yup.

I can't recall having any issues with any of my Panasonic cameras. My current ones, GM5, GX7, GX8, and G9 all seem very well built. I tend to treat them somewhat gently, there's not even any metal showing through worn-off black paint.

 

[alcelc]

I hammered mine and the only thing I got was the fatal dust in the sensor stack needing a new sensor (thanfully under warranty) this has killed too many GX7s, GM1s and GM5s , thankfully they fixed the poor sealing of the stack with the next gen sensor . Pan ought to have done a recall but they didn`t ............ the biggest issue for me was shutter shock, it was horrendous with the 14-140-II , Worse than the GX8 and almost as bad as the GX1 - the prob is that unlike the GX8, the GX7 drops to 10-bit mode in E-Shutter and has a very slow scan meaning poor DR and bendy moving images ..

Jeffharris is correct. E-shutter if GX7 is 12 bits. It is lowered to 10 bits on GX85.

amazing thing is that I actually liked the camera despite all that - it has better ergonomics and a far better grip than the GX80/90 and the EVF maybe poor but it was better than nothing .. The GX8 is superb but its an E-Shutter only camera with a few but most useful lenses , as I said thankfully there`s no loss in image quality and the scan speed is batter but its a bigger camera ........

the GX80 has no shock issues and a better sensor than the GX7,

They share the same 16Mp Panny sensor. Only difference is the sensor of GX85 has the AA filter removed for a sharper SOOC jpg output and it is on a 5-axis floating design.

IBIS is better too but basically no grip to speak of so button crunchy when picking up or using with longer lenses, for some silly reason it doesn`t have the D-Pad disable option like the GX8 which would fix that

One more thing, 14~140 f/3.5-5.6 still suffers shutter shock on the new m-shutter of GX85. E-shutter is still the best shutter option for this lens.

 

[Keithpictures]

You mention the GX8 being too big and the GX7 II (GX80) having a worse grip, which I assume is also why you aren’t interested in the most modern iteration GX7 III (GX9)..

So what would it take in a hypothetical GX10 to finally make you upgrade? I guess the exact body size and feel.. any other features that would convince you?

 

[rashid7]

"Nope. The GX7 produces 12-bit images with the electronic shutter. One of it's selling points. Thee-shutter scan speed is definitely slow, though."

That's what i thot Jeff!

 

[eques]

GX7 is a classic. Bought mine new right after launch in 2013. Still have it, but rarely use it.

The down button on the rear pad failed, so it only goes up. Other than that, it’s been rock solid.

Still hate the EVF.

Why not check out a used GX8? It’s a MUCH better camera on every level. Image quality, feature set and handling. The EVF is fantastic compared to the GX7’s meager peep-hole.

Correct, fully agree. But mine has a problem with the exposure compensation dial.

The rear dial is the common failure point due to the dual function of turn plus push. When mine failed parts for a DIY repair were hard to come by but I managed to find one; now, the rear dial is easily orderable via eBay and it only takes 13 screws to put it in. If one is reasonably competent with a jeweler's screwdriver (just "reasonably", not much more is needed), the repair is totally DIY capable.

GX7: I hardly ever use the push-function and still 3 dials failed.

GX8: the exp. comp. dial doesn't have a push function, it even felt rather stiff at first.

 

[Adam-T]

They share the same 16Mp Panny sensor. Only difference is the sensor of GX85 has the AA filter removed for a sharper SOOC jpg output and it is on a 5-axis floating design.

I think it`s a newer design - pretty sure the scan rate is faster and the filter stack is a new design which doesn`t let in dust ..

I find that the AA filter removal makes a lot more difference to RAW output than JPG,..... JPG sharpness difference in cameras is mainly down to the in-camera processing .. the amount of Noise reduction at base ISO (it`s usually excessive even on lowest setting) and the radius / amount of unsharp mask used by the JPG engine, the Difference between a weak AA filter like the GX7 had and none at all would have little effect on the typically greasy JPG engines in cameras (Squeezing fine detail = far more CPU time & power ) - Sony and especially Canon seem to be pushing the boat out regarding scavenging fine detail from OOC JPGs,.. Panasonic , Oly , Nikon and Fuji far less so ..

IBIS is better too but basically no grip to speak of so button crunchy when picking up or using with longer lenses, for some silly reason it doesn`t have the D-Pad disable option like the GX8 which would fix that

One more thing, 14~140 f/3.5-5.6 still suffers shutter shock on the new m-shutter of GX85. E-shutter is still the best shutter option for this lens.

I never had it in the 2.5 years I had a GX80, I rarely used the E-Shutter on that camera and the 14-140-II was on it most of the time

--
** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

 

[alcelc]

They share the same 16Mp Panny sensor. Only difference is the sensor of GX85 has the AA filter removed for a sharper SOOC jpg output and it is on a 5-axis floating design.

I think it`s a newer design - pretty sure the scan rate is faster and the filter stack is a new design which doesn`t let in dust ..

I find that the AA filter removal makes a lot more difference to RAW output than JPG,..... JPG sharpness difference in cameras is mainly down to the in-camera processing .. the amount of Noise reduction at base ISO (it`s usually excessive even on lowest setting) and the radius / amount of unsharp mask used by the JPG engine, the Difference between a weak AA filter like the GX7 had and none at all would have little effect on the typically greasy JPG engines in cameras (Squeezing fine detail = far more CPU time & power ) - Sony and especially Canon seem to be pushing the boat out regarding scavenging fine detail from OOC JPGs,.. Panasonic , Oly , Nikon and Fuji far less so ..

IBIS is better too but basically no grip to speak of so button crunchy when picking up or using with longer lenses, for some silly reason it doesn`t have the D-Pad disable option like the GX8 which would fix that

One more thing, 14~140 f/3.5-5.6 still suffers shutter shock on the new m-shutter of GX85. E-shutter is still the best shutter option for this lens.

I never had it in the 2.5 years I had a GX80, I rarely used the E-Shutter on that camera and the 14-140-II was on it most of the time

You should find it if you look for it...